Chemical odor coming from the Radiator

ClaudiaThompson

Months ago, when I used to turn the control in the upstairs closet off at night that controlled the boiler and the radiators in the house, all of a sudden one day I started having trouble turning on the control downstairs that controls the temperature. It wouldn't come on, unless I would go back upstairs and turn the control switch off and on again. A repair man just told me not to turn it off anymore at night and put in a new thermostat upstairs. So I did what he said and stopped turning it off at night. My friend I am staying with thought it made his bedroom hotter so that was why I turned the switch off at night in the upstairs closet where the boiler is located.

Now all of a sudden there has been a smell coming from the radiator in the kitchen. THat is the new radiator that a company put in about a year ago, they removed the old one so we would have a larger radiator in the kitchen. This is completely different brand of radiator.

Then all of a sudden one day recently, I got up in the morning and the whole kitchen smelled just awful with that chemical smell. Right as you walk through the door you would get a waft of it right up your nose,and the radiator is right there on the left as you walk in. I just couldn't figure out what it was, and my friend and I thought it was the refrigerator giving out, so I bought a new one. But the smell was still there. Finally I went upstairs and discovered that without me knowing it, my friend had turned off the heating control upstairs again in the closet where the boiler is.

So I turned it back on and moved the thermostat downstairs to start the heat a little bit then turned it down to where ti clicked off. The smell mostly went away but now I can still smell it a bit just as I walk into the kitchen so I leave the kitchen window open somewhat because I am worried about what the smell is.

Anyway, the people that put it in insist that smells cannot come from a radiator and will not do anything about it. I think that maybe there is something that happens when it is turned off at where the boiler is in the upstairs closet and that this one radiator in the kitchen doesn't have whatever safety mechanism in it that all the other radiators in the house do, that would keep it from leaking whatever it is that it is leaking.

It was a special different company that put in the new kitchen, they reconstructed the whole thing, flooring, cabinets, countertops and so forth and had also put in that new radiator.

So what could this be, any ideas? And what can I do about it? I asked them if they could just remove the radiator and install another one like what was there before but they won't.

Steamhead

The water in the boiler may have become contaminated somehow. Or maybe something got spilled on the radiator that you didn't know about. Is this a steam or hot-water system?

Where are you located? We may be able to point you to someone who can help.

ClaudiaThompson

Steamhead said:

The water in the boiler may have become contaminated somehow. Or maybe something got spilled on the radiator that you didn't know about. Is this a steam or hot-water system?

Where are you located? We may be able to point you to someone who can help.

It's a Worcester hot water combi boiler. We are located in Neath, Wales.

DanHolohan

Hi, Claudia! Can you post a photo of the radiator?

ClaudiaThompson

Steamhead said:

The water in the boiler may have become contaminated somehow. Or maybe something got spilled on the radiator that you didn't know about. Is this a steam or hot-water system?

Where are you located? We may be able to point you to someone who can help.

It's a Worcester hot water combi boiler. We are located in Neath, Wales.

DanHolohan said:

Hi, Claudia! Can you post a photo of the radiator?

Okay let me ask my friend if he can do a photo of it, and if yes, I will post it.

ClaudiaThompson

DanHolohan said:

Hi, Claudia! Can you post a photo of the radiator?

DanHolohan... okay here are the photos

DanHolohan

Its possible something once alive crawled in there.

4Johnpipe

You may want to have an electrician check the wiring. I don't mean to alarm you however it msy be a short in the wall and it may be melting the coating of the wires.

ClaudiaThompson

DanHolohan said:

Its possible something once alive crawled in there.

No that is not it.

ClaudiaThompson

4Johnpipe said:

You may want to have an electrician check the wiring. I don't mean to alarm you however it may be a short in the wall and it may be melting the coating of the wires.

That's possible. Today I wrote an email to my Housing Officer, the one who deal with the general stuff, and I told him about all of these things and what the other Company had said and would not help me at all. It surprised me but he actually said that he would send someone out from their own place to do some tests for carbon monoxide and gas. So when these people come, I will ask them about if it could be something electrical, as you said.

ClaudiaThompson

Hello again. We finally got the Landlord to have the company that put the radiator in, come and remove it altogether. This was about June 22 about a week ago. Since then, there has been no more smell in the kitchen at all, even with turning the heat on a little now and then.... until today.

I was getting really cold this morning and so I just turned on the heat a lot and left it on for awhile. Suddenly when I went into the kitchen there was that smell again. I called my friend I am staying with into the kitchen and he smelled it too, but we both agreed it was not quite as bad as before. I guess because the radiator is now removed.

So my question is, can the pipes themselves leak? They turned the valves off on the pipes.

I was reading about the pressure being turned too high on the boiler, could they have turned it too high and could that cause it to smell? Are the kitchen radiator and pipes like the 'end of the line' for all the pipework and can that make it smell, I mean since it is the only room that is smelling this way.

Ironman

Can you post some pics of the boiler and its flue piping. It may be flue gases that you're smelling which could be extremely dangerous or even deadly. You really need to get a qualified tech out there ASAP.
I'd leave the boiler off until it's determined that it's safe.